Olympic silver medallist Spencer Wilton has withdrawn from this week’s inaugural Wellington CDI3 .
Spencer was due to compete his Rio Olympic ride Super Nova II in their first international appearance since March 2020, but has pulled out owing to an ongoing back injury.
“My injury has been rumbling along; I recently had three injections in my back, which now feels amazing, but I am still getting horrific cramps in my left leg from nerve impingement,” Spencer told
H&H. “I am going to have another procedure to help with that, and hoped to be able to wait until after Wellington to have it done, but it wasn’t to be.
The inaugural Wellington CDI3 that gets underway this week is set to be one of the most significant dressage events of the year. As the first dressage international to be held on British soil since October – and the first outdoor UK show since 2019 – the country’s top combinations will be out in force.
While not officially a selection trial, this will be a crucial opportunity for those riders campaigning for a place on the British dressage team at the Tokyo Olympics to prove themselves. For those who have opted not to make a trip across the Channel to compete this year, this show will be especially important.
Horse & Hound
Trending: Credit: Peter Nixon
Top British dressage rider Emile Faurie was frustrated when his intended ride for last month’s Opglabbeek CDI3 in Belgium (22-25 April) was denied entry to the EU.
The double Olympian was entered for the event – one of Europe’s first major dressage shows this year – on his World Equestrian Games team bronze medallist Dono Di Maggio, but was forced to turn for home on reaching Calais owing to a paperwork mistake that had been made by the border control team in Dover.
“The horses are in Swiss ownership and were travelling on Swiss carnets [an international customs document required since the UK left the EU]. All the paperwork was correct but the people in Dover had pulled out the wrong piece of paper in the carnet, and then once we got to Calais the French wouldn’t accept it,” Emile told
Jessica von Bredow-Werndl
Jessica von Bredow-Werndl is a German grand prix dressage rider and European medallist, who is campaigning for team selection for the Tokyo Olympic Games with TSF Dalera BB.
Jessica was born on 16 February 1986. Her mother Micaela was a member of the German junior ski team for seven years, and her father Klaus is a German national sailing champion. When the family moved to Aubenhausen in southern Germany in 1993, Jessica and her brother Benjamin Werndl took up riding, as did their mother.
Building a senior career
Jessica had a very successful dressage career as a junior and young rider, winning six gold medals in youth ranks with Bonito and Duchess. After university she spent three months living in the UK, basing her horses with Emile Faurie, in order to improve her English.